Chapter 2: Living Nightmares
This is the second chapter in the Slendermorph series. Description Lucas finds himself in a terrible nightmare where he is being chased by something and he is unable to wake himself up. Story As he opened his eyes he noticed that it barely made a difference, everything was dark all around him. Well, everything but a small glow coming from a few inches away. As he reached for the glow his hand touched something hard and it burned him, as he cried out in pain he tried to figure out what was going on. He stared at the glow for a few seconds before reaching for it again, this time from above. As he felt his way around he could make out a knob so he turned it and the glow got much brighter. He was able to make out what it was finally. For some reason there was a lantern by him. Deciding not to question it, he picked it up and then started to stand. However, he found that his legs would not support him. When he finally managed to stand up he shone the lantern around to try to make out his surroundings. As bright as his lantern was he couldn't make out anything except for a few trees in the distance. Not knowing what else to do, he headed towards them. He walked for what seemed like hours and his lantern was starting to dim when he finally approached the trees. As he lifted his lantern he noticed that this was in fact a huge forest and it stretched out for what seemed like forever, it was big enough to cover an entire city even. Puzzled but not knowing what else to do, he walked into the forest and began trying to make his way through it. The forest was dark and lonesome and his mind started to play tricks on him. He began seeing and hearing things, most of these being a tall man who would randomly appear and disappear out of nowhere as if it was teleporting. However, every time it appeared and he tried to shine the light on it it would disappear again. '' ''He began to lose his mind as the forest continued on forever and the strange figure kept coming and going from his field of vision. Each time it appeared it seemed more familiar than the last, almost as if he had seen it before. Try as he might to remember where he could have seen it before, he was unable to do so and this frustrated him. Then he saw his lantern reflect off something. Hoping he had found a building or a way out, he sprinted towards whatever reflected his lantern's light. However, when he got to it he saw that it was just an old piece of paper. The paper seemed blank except for a few traces of blood on it and when he started thinking about it he became confused. ''Shouldn't this have decomposed by now? It looks pretty old...''he thought to himself. He examined the paper trying to figure out why it hadn't decomposed and why it was here when he noticed there was something on the back. He flipped it over to examine the other side and that's when he saw the page was not so blank after all. It was covered with Unitologist script and had a weird symbol all over it, a circle with an X through it. He began to run the Unitologist script through his head trying to remember what all the characters meant. When he finally figured it out he dropped the paper in utter shock. The paper read ''"Always watches. No eyes." ''just like that in a game he had played once as a child and studied the mythos behind it. The Slenderman mythos it was called, about a tall man with no face, wearing a suit and kidnapping children. That's when the strange symbol hit him, that was the Operator Symbol that was used in relation to the Slenderman. He began to panic as his memory flashed back to him of a tall man following him and ''teleporting ''out of range and back again. His heart rate rose and he began to consider the possibility that the Slenderman was after him. He was being followed by a tall man that could teleport, he had just found a page relating to that of the Slenderman himself, and he was in a very large forest. All of it pointed to the Slenderman but he didn't want to believe it, he didn't think it was real and he definitely didn't want to die this way. But more came rushing into his head, more memories and more stuff to suggest that he was about to die. He remembered being in his bedroom on the second story and before he fell asleep he saw the figure of a man standing outside his window. He didn't remember seeing any tentacles but he knew that there was no way anyone could appear in his window without a ladder, and he would've heard someone prop up a ladder. But as he thought about it he got more confused. He was in bed asleep how did he wind up in the middle of nowhere by a huge forest? He began to think over everything he knew about the Slenderman mythos and it did him little good. Nothing about a Quantum Theory or use of mind games would help him figure this out. ''Wait, that's it, he thought, I'm probably dreaming. Which means that was probably the Slenderman outside my window, which means he's real, which means this is just a nightmare! ''But try as he might, he could not wake himself up. Frustrated he began to try to think of a way to wake himself up. He considered dying, but that might leave him stuck in the dream forever so that wouldn't work. After thinking it over for a few minutes he decided that his best bet was to located the other pages and maybe then it would let him wake up. With this being his goal, but no real sense of direction or a clue as to where the other pages would be, he headed out in a random direction. He began to feel sleepy as he continued on passing tree after tree and tree without any kind of landmark in sight when he noticed a faint glow in the distance. Knowing this was probably his best chance he went in the direction of the glow where, not long after, he found another page. As happy as he was to find the second page, he knew that at this rate he would never finish fast enough. But since he was in a dream, maybe the same mechanics applied as they do in normal dreams, maybe he could take charge. However, when he tried to do so a sharp pain went through his head and almost knocked him unconscious. He felt completely helpess and hoped for the only thing he could hope for now. And that was the hope that he at least had unlimited stamina since it was a dream. He began running and he kept running even though he had no idea where he was going. But at least he was right, he had unlimited stamina. Time went by much quicker and before he knew it he had found five other pages and he had just one more left to find. But he was puzzled at the fact that he hadn't seen the tall man at all since he found the first page. Was he wrong about it being the Slenderman? Was his mind just playing tricks on him? He questioned this until he found the final page which was on top of a water tower. As he climbed the ladder to get to the top, he noticed something odd. There was Unitologist script everywhere. Not just on the ladder and the tower, but on the trees and in the air too. What the hell was going on? As he started to read some of it he noticed it all had to do with death or the Slenderman. He really was going crazy and he knew it, but he still didn't know what to make of all of it. As he reached the top of the tower he grabbed the page and read it. But there was a problem, this page was quite large and didn't have any of the usual Slender stuff on it. Instead it depicted a forest with what appeared to be five teenagers sitting around a fire with some type of rock in their hand. The Slenderman was off to the side just standing there watchimg them. He flipped the paper over and he had no idea what to make of what he was looking at. The Slenderman was still there but he was completely different, it was as if his arms had been reconstructed into some sort of morphing scythes and even his tentacles looked more dangerous. The kids, now scattered, looked dead and the rock was in the middle and it had Unitologist script around it. The symbols read out ''"Beware the Influence of Aliens" ''but what the hell was that supposed to mean? As he started to think about it he started to get lightheaded and he passed out. When he opened his eyes again he was in his bed and not a forest. He looked around puzzled when he felt something on him so he looked down at his body. What he saw freaked him out, the pages he collected in his dream were in his lap. But there was something different about them, they had something in the corners now and the last page he found was now a normal one and not what he saw in his dream. Without thinking he got up and laid the pages down on the floor and began rearranging them. When he came to his senses he noticed that he lines in the corners of the pages made up the symbol for the Marker. He started trying to figure out what everything meant when he remember what the last page looked like in his dream. He got a piece of paper and tried to sketch out what he remembered, and it came out pretty close to what it actually looked like in his dream. He just couldn't remember how the tall man looked on the back, so instead he just put a question mark there. He put the pages in with his things for the trip because this was something he had to discuss with his friends, as they all shared an interest in the Slenderman mythos. He looked up at the time, ''9:21am, almost an hour and a half later then when he planned to wake up. He quickly called his friends and told them he may be running a little late as he had a bad dream. He hops in the shower and eats breakfast as fast as he can. When he gets done its almost ten, so he's almost back on track. After checking all his supplies again and loading them up he starts his drive to pick up his friends. He decides to pick up Kiyan first so he can discuss his dream with him. However, when he arrives Kiyan is still getting ready. After waiting about twenty minutes Kiyan finally finishes getting ready and loading his stuff up.'' Lucas: About damn time slow poke, I woke up an hour and a half late and I was still ready before you. Kiyan: Yeah well I woke up too, I didn't get to sleep like an angel unlike someone. Lucas: What the hell are you talking about? I didn't sleep like an angel, that's actually why I picked you up first instead of Hannah, I needed to talk to you. Kiyan: Wait, so does that mean you had some freaky ass nightmare too? Lucas: If you consider being hunted by the Slenderman, having to collect pages for a few hours, and not being able to wake up voluntarily a nightmare than yes. Kiyan: Holy shit dude, that sucks. Lucas: That's not the best part, reach into the small pocket of my backpack and tell me what you find. Kiyan: Ok? *fumbles around a little bit and stares at the notes* Dude, the fuck is wrong with you? I know we're all into the mythos but this is a bit- Lucas: I woke up with those on my lap. Kiyan: *shocked* What in the fuck? Lucas: There should be another page that I drew and a photo in the side pocket, look at those as well. Kiyan: Ok man, but this is weird. *fumbles around a bit more* Wait these are the pages in my hand... Lucas: Yeah, and what do they make? Kiyan: The Marker symbol...but what's that have to do with anything? Lucas: Take a look at the other page and maybe you can tell me. There's a front and back but they aren't completely accurate. That was the last page I found in my dream and I tried to recreate it from memory. Kiyan: Dude this is really weird...is that supposed to be us and the Slenderman? And what if the rock is my Marker shard? Beware the Alien Influence? I don't quite understand that but the Marker is believed to be alien technology but do you really think it could cause something like this? Lucas: I wish I knew, it would make things so much simplier. We really need to be on our guard now though. Kiyan: You've got that right, this is some freaky shit. Lucas: Beyond freaky man. So, what exactly happened in your dream? Kiyan: My dream? Oh yeah, my dream. Well, basically I was being chased by some kind of creature, it looked the Slenderman but it had like...swords for arms instead of normal arms or even tentacles. I had to find pieces of the Marker and destroy them before the thing killed me. Lucas: Do you think you could draw me a basic sketch of what the thing looked like? Kiyan: Yeah probably, it was pretty freaky. Why? Lucas: Just do it, please. As they drive down the road Lucas pulls over for a minute so Kiyan can draw without having to deal with the constant motions of the truck running and moving all over the dirt road. After a few minutes Kiyan finishes and hands it to Lucas where he looks it over for a second before asking for the larger page back. He turns it over to the back side where he erases the question mark and instead draws a stick figure form of what Kiyan just drew than hands both back to him. Lucas: There, that's exactly what the page in my dream looked like. I couldn't remember what it looked like myself but I definitely know that's what it looked like now. Kiyan: Uhm, dude, are we all dead in this? Lucas: I honestly don't have any idea. Kiyan: This is getting weirder and scarier by the minute man. What are the odds of this? Do you think- Lucas: No I don't, there's no way this is coincidence, it's far too accurate. Kiyan: Yeah, I guess you're right. Lucas: You know I'm right. We're at Hannah's now, move over so I can sit next to her will ya? Kiyan: Yeah sure, why not. Not like you can get any anyways! Lucas: HEY! *punches him in the chest* Kiyan: Ahahaha, you know I'm just messing with you. Lucas: I have a gun remember? Kiyan: And I have a dick that has shot more loads than you ever will with guns. Lucas: Kiyan I'm going to kill you, I'm not that bad with women! Hannah: What are you boys arguing about now? Lucas: Nothing Hannah. Kiyan: Nothing? We were jsut discussing how he can't get any even though he- Lucas: *covers his mouth* Don't you dare, I will cut your preicious little package off in your sleep. Kiyan: *tries to say something* Mmmrfff mrrff! Lucas: *punches him in the side* Good boy. Sorry about that Hannah. Hannah: You boys are so weird, I'll never understand why I hang out with the likes of you? Kiyan: *strikes a pose* It's because everyone wants some of the Kiyan man! Hannah: *laughs* The Kiyan man? Lucas has a better chance of getting in my pants than you do. Lucas and Kiyan: *flabbergasted* What?! Hannah: Boys, boys it's just an expression. I doubt either one of you will get in my pants, you don't have the charm. ''*winks* Kiyan: Ha, I've already got me a woman. Lucas over here though, he could use- Lucas: I'm not interested in sex, I like her for her! *covers his mouth* Oh shit... Kiyan: *laughs hysterically* Oh my god your face right now, I can't believe that! I'm dying, oh god my sides. Lucas: Noooo..... ;-; Hannah: Aww, poor Lukey, its ok. I already knew you liked me. Lucas: Oh god this is so embarrassing ;-; Kiyan: This is too funny man. Lucas: *glares at him with an evil anime face* I will feed you to the dogs I swear to god Kiyan. Kiyan: Ok, ok! Sorry *wipes his eyes* let's get going shall we? Hannah: Put my stuff in the back for me Kiyan! *gets in the truck* Kiyan: What?! Aww, c'mon :c *puts the stuff up and gets in* Lucas: You all ready? Well then, let's go! Hannah: Uh guys, what's all this? *points to the pages that Kiyan and Lucas had been discussing* And why does it all look like the Slenderman paid you a visit? Lucas and Kiyan: *facepalm* Shit... Hannah: Spill it, now. ''Lucas and Kiyan tell Hannah what they had discussed earlier, telling her about their dreams and the pages and what they think it means. After being quiet for a while Hannah pipes up. Hannah: Well, as creepy as all that is I think we'll be ok. We have radios, weapons, and each other so nothing could possibly stop us. Kiyan: Yeah I guess you're right, we're all professional bad asses here! Lucas: Kiyan, you're just a cocky little fucker aren't ya? Kiyan: Hey! Hannah: *laughs* Now, now boys no fighting in front of a lady. Or do I have to beat you both up? Kiyan: A lady? Hahaha- *gets smacked upside the head* Ow! Hannah: Be happy I didn't hit you like Lucas was or you'd be crying. Kiyan: Kiyan man never- *gets hit in the stomach* Ow, stop it! Lucas: Alright you two, knock it off before I knock your heads together. It's hard to concentrate with you two hitting each other and arguing. We're here to keep each other safe and have fun remember? Hannah: I can play nice if he does. Kiyan: I'm always nice! Lucas: You're about as nice as a cactus is soft Kiyan. Kiyan: Thank you! Wait, hey! Lucas: Haha, love you man. Kiyan: All of the homo? Lucas: None of the homo! Kiyan: Aww D: Hannah: You boys really are something else. Lucas: Well, let's hurry up and get the others. As they drive down the road towards Marcie's house they sit in almost complete silence, all of them thinking the same thing: what do the dreams and pages mean? Are they actually in danger and is the Slenderman actually real? Category:Squattop Category:Squattop's Chapters Category:Dead Space: Break-Fast: Slendermorph Category:Dead Space: Break-Fast: Slendermorph Chapters